China’s Ministry of Education has granted preliminary approval for the creation of Duke Kunshan University, a joint venture with Wuhan University and the city of Kunshan, Duke President Richard H. Brodhead announced Thursday.

DKU, which has been in development since 2010, will be “a center for innovative teaching and research, based on the principles and values that have made American research universities the model for the world,” Brodhead said.

The new campus will allow Duke to create new models of higher education in China and supply a base for the growing number of research projects that require a Chinese presence, Brodhead said.

The campus is currently under construction in Kunshan, a rapidly expanding city between Shanghai and Suzhou. The university’s six-building, state-of-the-art academic village will have more than 750,000 square feet of classrooms, student and faculty housing, research facilities, dining and recreation spaces and an executive conference center.

DKU is expected to open in the 2013-2014 academic year, pending final approval from the Chinese Ministry of Education. Two graduate programs – in management studies and global health – have already been developed. A one-semester undergraduate program in global health also will be offered.

Brodhead said DKU will house several research centers, beginning with a Global Health Research Center.